GEORGE TOWN – Almost everyone above the age of 40 here has a story to relate about the iconic cross-channel Penang ferry – which will sail its last course on December 31, after 61 years of service.
From next month until July 2022, only one of the iconic ferries will sail – catering only to motorcyclists and cyclists – before it will be replaced by two transporters, which will do the same task but allow four wheelers, such as ambulances, to be used during emergencies.
The service will be replaced by fast modern vessels, which allows passengers to reach the island from Butterworth within 10 minutes.
The 3km-journey with an old ferry will be lost in a few weeks, that's the main significance of this historic decision made by the authorities last month, island regulars and activists said.
Sentimental residents said they met their “wives” on board the ferries, while others claimed to have made decisions about their future as the ferries leisurely cross the channel.
They said since 1929, vehicles have been on board the vessels, making the journey across the narrowest curve of the Penang Channel, adding that this makes the service among the oldest in Asia.
Emotions were churning even for decision makers, who decided to discontinue the service due to rising maintenance costs and lack of spare parts.
Heading the list is Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng, who also rides the ferries home to Butterworth, on the mainland.
Many ask if PPC had made the right decision doing away with the old service and catering to only foot passengers, motorcyclists and cyclists.
Tan said motorists can only cross over if they use the two Penang Bridges, adding that he may have just become the most “unpopular man” in Penang.
The decision was made by the federal cabinet, but Tan said he was the executioner of the “contentious” plan, which calls for a two–phase exercise to replace the aging fleet.
Another official is Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) chief executive officer Sasedharan Vasudevan, who also commutes daily to Butterworth for work. PPSB is the port operator.
Tan’s predecessor in the commission, Jeffrey Chew Gim Eam, related how he used the ferry with his late father, a land surveyor.
“Perhaps the announcement came too fast. People are stunned, and I think there is disappointment all around. Yes, there were such plans earlier, but the timing could have been better,” he said.
The double-decker yellow ferries are, without doubt, a landmark of Penang, as they ply the channel on their daily 20-minute journey for as long as most Penang residents can recall.
However, statistics tell a grim tale – of the 1.5 million annual users, 1.2 million are foot passengers and only 200,000 are automobiles or motorcycles.
Losses reach up to RM15 million a year at one time, but supporters ask: “What about Malaysia Airlines or other transport services that are financially ailing?”
Five “water buses” had been purchased by PPSB to take foot passengers come July 2022, but according to historians, the experience and insight of being aboard the old-fashioned ferries will be lost on tourists, islanders and mainlanders going to the “Pearl of the Orient”, as Penang is famously called.
They said the “touristy feel” is lost as modern fleets, while able to transport people across within 10 minutes, lack the leisurely pace that allows people to take in the sights of the island or mainland.
Formber Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun said if Hong Kong can sustain their own fleet of ferries between Kowloon and Hong Kong, why can’t Penang replicate something similar?
Datuk Anwar Fazal, a veteran heritage and consumer rights activist, questioned what will be the fate of the old ferries and how will their legacy be preserved.
He said although authorities will still operate the cross-channel transportation service, it will not feature the car-carrying ferries, which are iconic emblems of Penang.
That’s the question which needs an answer. – The Vibes, December 17, 2020
